Final Destiny
by ProudNintendoFan
Summary: Set immediately after the events of KHII, Sora and his friends return to wage their final battle with Maleficent and stop her once and for all. The final battle begins now...


Kingdom Hearts: Final Destiny

(This fic contains MAJOR Kingdom Hearts II spoilers. If you haven't played/finished it yet and don't want to be spoiled, hit your back button now.) First of all: the Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, all respective Disney/Final Fantasy characters are trademarks of Disney and Square respectively. (I forget who the original characters belong to, perhaps both)

_One Year Ago…_

_A boy named Sora lived on Destiny Islands… he and his two closest friends, Riku and Kairi often wondered what it would it be like to see any other worlds that existed. On the night before Sora and his friends were to set out in search of new worlds. Their world was lost into darkness._

_However, just before Sora was swept away to another world, a strange sword appeared in his hands: Sora was the Keyblade Master. When Sora awoke, he was in a new world called Traverse Town. It was there that he met Donald Duck and Goofy, the respective Royal Court Mage and Captain of the Royal Guard of Disney Castle. They were searching for their king, Mickey Mouse._

_Sora joined with them so that they could all find their friends. It was on their quest that Sora learned of the 7 Princesses of Heart and their ties to the realm of darkness. Riku had fallen into darkness while Kairi had lost her heart. The two best friends set out to rescue Kairi, each in their own way. _

_At the ruins of Hollow Bastion, it was revealed who was truly manipulating Riku: Ansem the Wise… or so they thought at the time. Ansem used Riku's body to take physical form once again. With Riku's body under his control. Ansem sought to open the door to Kingdom Hearts. But he was defeated by Sora and his friends. To close the door to Kingdom Hearts, Sora and King Mickey joined their Keyblades to seal the door. But both Riku and King Mickey were still trapped inside._

_Kairi had regained her heart thanks to Sora, but the two were to be separated when all the worlds that the Heartless had destroyed returned. Kairi found herself back on Destiny Islands, while Sora traveled with Donald and Goofy to find Riku and the King._

_Not long after defeating Ansem, Sora and his friends found themselves at Castle Oblivion. Traveling up the 13 floors. Sora found his memories slowly being erased. But one memory came back to him: Naminé. Naminé was a friend of Sora's who he had forgotten… as Sora made his way up the Castle floors, he was targeted by a mysterious Organization that sought to use Sora's power for their own means._

_At the top of the Castle, Sora met Naminé where he learned the truth. Naminé was forced to take away Sora's memories and implanting memories that he had never truly had. Regretful of her actions, Naminé told Sora and his friends to step inside devices that would restore their memories yet also take away their memories of what transpired in Castle Oblivion. _

_A year later, Sora awoke where he learned of Organization XIII which sought to use every heart from any Heartless that Sora had defeated with his Keyblade to form a new Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Donald and Goofy were reunited with King Mickey who revealed the truth: that the "Ansem" they destroyed on their first adventure was actually Xehanort, Ansem's apprentice, who stole the real Ansem's name and research and claimed it as his own. They had actually defeated Xehanort's heartless, but yet whenever a heartless is destroyed, a nobody is formed. Xehanort's Nobody, Xemnas was the leader of Organization XIII. When Sora and his friends confronted the Organization at their stronghold, it was there that Sora met his own Nobody, Roxas. And reunited with his friends, Riku and Kairi at last. But Riku had taken the form of Xehanort's heartless in order to fight in the realm of darkness. _

_King Mickey met with his old friend, Ansem the Wise, who had taken the name of DiZ to reflect his lost identity. The true Ansem sacrificed himself to destroy the Kingdom Hearts that Xemnas sought to create, yet this sacrifice in turn, also restored Riku to his true self. It was discovered that Naminé had in fact been Kairi's Nobody, both Roxas and Naminé merged with Sora and Kairi to make them complete again. After an epic final battle, Sora and Riku defeated Xemnas and finally everything seemed to be at peace._

A month had passed, Sora and Riku had just been laying on the tall island, staring out into the sunset as they would do in the old days.

Sora was still the Chosen Keyblade Master, though he did not have any reason to use it for the past month. It was nice to finally take a break from fighting Heartless and Nobodies.

Riku was Sora's best friend, and was originally the one chosen to be the Keyblade Master, but when he willingly gave into the darkness, the Keyblade choose Sora instead. He had spent the last year trying to fight the darkness that remained within, with King Mickey's help.

"Sora! Riku!"

Sora and Riku both turned to see Kairi, their friend running towards them, carrying a bottled letter in her hand. As she finally reached them, Kairi stopped for a moment, her hands on her knees, to catch her breath.

Sora looked at the insignia on the letter, it was shaped like a mouse's head. Sora recognized it immediately as King Mickey's seal.

Sora opened the bottle and took the letter out. Unrolling it, both Riku and Kairi gathered around him as Sora silently read the letter to himself:

_Sora, Riku, Kairi,_

_I'm sorry to report that our troubles have not yet ended, Maleficent and Pete both survived their battle with the Nobodies and have returned to their… normal ways. I don't know exactly what their planning, but it's best that we put a stop to them before it can get any worse. _

_Donald and Goofy are on their way in a Gummi Ship to pick you up. They should be arriving shortly. I'll fill you in on all the details when you arrive._

_King Mickey Mouse_

Sora lowered the letter and stared, first at Riku, then at Kairi. He remembered well, as they approached their final battle with Xemnas, they were attacked by several Nobodies. Yet, Maleficent and her lackey, Pete came to their aid, despite having caused past troubles.

"Well, I guess I can't say I didn't expect this." Sora said. "In fact, I should've seen it coming."

"Well, with everything that was going on at the time, those two were definitely the _least_ of everyone's worries." Riku added, jumping back onto the tree and resting his back there.

"Yeah… I guess so." Sora said. "I just want to know what they're up to exactly."

"Well, it might have something to do with me." Kairi said.

"What?" Sora turned in surprise to face her. "Kairi?"

"Well, what I mean is that I'm one of the princesses of heart. Maleficent was after me and the other princesses. You think she's after me again?"

"Kairi…" Sora said, shocked at the question.

"It's a possibility." Riku surmised. "But it could be something else. Sora, you told us that Maleficent was looking for a new palace, didn't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Well then, maybe they found a palace." Riku finished.

Sora shrugged. "It doesn't really matter."

Kairi seemed bothered by Sora and Riku's reaction to this news. "Aren't you two worried? I mean, Maleficent is…"

"Eh, compared to the guy we just beat, Maleficent's nothing." Riku smiled, climbing back onto the tree.

"Alright, well' Sora started, as he started walking in the other direction.. "I'm gonna go tell the others that Riku and I are…"

"I'm going too!" Kairi interrupted.

Sora stopped suddenly. "But… Kairi, it's…"

"Oh, don't start with that, Sora." Riku started, a smile on his face. "You know you can't stop her."

Sora started to protest, but upon realizing that Riku's words were true, quickly gave in. "All right, you can come, Kairi."

Kairi let out a small giggle as Sora sighed. "You remember what I said before back there? When we all stood in front of Kingdom Hearts?"

"Yeah.' Sora answered. "From now on, wherever one of us goes, we all follow, or something like that." He stated, quoting Kairi.

Kairi let out a small laugh. "All right then, Sora. I think we should pack a few things."

"Eh, don't worry about packing." Riku said, sitting up.

"Why" Kairi asked, looking up to face Riku.

"I was traveling for a year without any items on me at first. And I look fine, don't I?' Riku said, looking at Sora and Kairi with a grin.

"A little more than you usually do." Sora remarked, a sly grin on his face.

Riku smiled. "Okay then, Mr. Wise Guy." Riku jumped down, his smile was now a playful one.

Sora grinned again and picked up a wooden sword. "Same as always?"

"You bet."

O-O-O

After a short, but brief fight, the duel ended in a draw. Sora then ran off to say goodbye to his friends Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. For unknown reasons to Sora, all of his friends had forgotten him until about a month ago.

Sora found his three friends near the cave where Sora and Kairi had both drawn pictures of themselves when they were younger.

Tidus was a young, energetic boy, who enjoyed sparring with Sora and Riku. He especially enjoyed playing games and exploring with Wakka.

Wakka was sort of the "big brother" figure to both Tidus and Selphie. He was easily recognizable by his long reddish-orange quiff.

Selphie was a young girl who could be a bit bossy when she wanted to. Though she was still very close to Tidus and Wakka, she started to drift apart from them a bit, but she has remained friendly with Kairi.

"Hey guys!" Sora said, as he caught up with them.

"Hey Sora!" Tidus said, as he returned Wakka's blitzball with his own wooden sword. "What's going on with you?"

"Well, Kairi, Riku and I are going to leave for a bit…" Sora started.

"What?" Selphie exclaimed, surprised. "But you just got back!"

"I know…" Sora said, bowing his head. "But something's come up and we've got to look into it."

"But Sora…" Selphie started to resume her protest, but Wakka placed a hand on her shoulder, which told her to stand down.

"C'mon, Selphie." Wakka said. "Sora's told us all about this little adventure he's had over the last year. It's probably something important, ya?"

"Yeah, it is." Sora said, shrugging slightly.

"All right then,' Selphie sighed. "I understand." There was a look of sadness on her face.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked.

"Well, it's just that… I feel so horrible as to having ever forgot you… I just don't get it…"

Sora's jaw dropped at Selphie's words. He didn't understand these circumstances either. He remembered that when he first returned to Radiant Garden. (Then called "Hollow Bastion") Leon and the others had stated that they had just remembered Sora and his friends when they arrived. He didn't know what the reasons were. It was certainly mysterious.

"Don't worry about it." Sora said, flashing a grin.

"I just… can't believe that I forgot." Selphie said, continuing to mope.

"Yeah… it sure was weird." Tidus added.

"Look, guys. I don't know what happened, but don't worry about it." Sora said, trying to cheer them up.

Selphie replied with a small smile. "Well, if you say so."

Tidus perked his head up as well. "Oh yeah, we've been meaning to say this for a while but… when are you and Kairi going to hook up?"

Sora was taken aback by this question. "W-What? What are you talking about?" His face was already turning red.

"Ooh, don't hide it." Selphie said, teasingly. "We've _all _seen that you two lovebirds put papou fruits on those little drawings of yours!"

"What? You saw those?" Sora said, now his entire face was almost red. His speech was practically nothing but stutters.

Wakka replied with a grin. "Aw, come on, man. It's not very hard to spot, ya?"

"Well, I guess it isn't…" Sora started.

"Sora!"

Sora turned around to see Kairi waving at the group, she had just come from the shack that they would use to get to the top island. She looked and sounded excited. "They're here!"

"What?" Sora shouted excitedly. Without any word, he quickly ran off to catch up to Kairi, giving his friends a departing wave as he went.

Even though only a month had passed, Sora deeply missed his days when he was traveling with Donald Duck, who was the Royal Court Mage of Disney Castle, and Goofy, the Captian of the King's Guard. The three of them fought many brave battles together, it was as Goofy once said: "All for one and one for all", shortly after their first meeting. They were inseparable, a trinity of power, of hearts.

No sooner than Sora arrived where both Riku and Kairi had waited, did two beams of light shoot down from the sky. Sora knew what it was; Donald and Goofy had arrived in a Gummi Ship.

The Gummi Ship was the vessel that Sora had used to travel across the worlds on his previous journeys. Without it, their voyage would've not been possible.

Out of the two beams of light, came a giant white duck and a giant dog. But they weren't ordinary animals, they could both speak normally among other things. Donald was known for his rather short temper, but he had tremendous loyalty to his King. He was also quite skilled in magic, as he made known throughout his journey.

Goofy was… well, goofy. While he seems slow-minded, no one was more loyal to King Mickey. Despite being the Captain of the King's guard, he refuses to use weapons, relying solely on his shield.

Just as soon as Donald and Goofy fully emerged from the light, Sora immediately leapt to greet his two friends, unfortunately for Donald, Sora accidentally knocked him down onto his back when he jumped at the duo.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora yelled, happily.

"Gawrsh, Sora. You missed us so soon?" Goofy said, as he embraced Sora.

"Of course!" Sora beamed. "It hasn't been as fun without you two… uh, where's Donald?"

Goofy pointed Sora over to the right to show that Donald had been knocked to the ground, the duck merely lay there, stunned and moaning.

"Oh, sorry Donald." Sora said, embarrassed as he helped Donald get to his webbed feet.

Donald groaned once more as he snapped out of his daze. "What was that all about?" he shouted, angrily.

Sora chuckled and placed his hands on the back of his head. "C'mon, you're used to getting slapped around."

"What?" Donald shouted again, jumping up and down. "You're crazy! I…"

Kairi calmly walked over and placed her shoulder on Donald, in order to calm him down. "Sora!" Kairi said, scolding. "Stop teasing Donald!"

"Oh… right. Sorry." Sora said, half smiling.

"So… what news is from the King?" Riku asked.

"Well, you guys should just come to the palace and see for yourselves." Goofy said, starting the preparations to teleport them all into the Gummi Ship. "There's somebody else waiting for you there, too, Sora."

"Really?" Sora asked, curiously. "Who?"

"You'll just have to see for yourself."

O-O-O

Before any of them knew it, they were standing inside a glass sphere, and when Sora's eyes had fully adjusted, he saw that he was once again looking out into space. As he looked out into its vast emptiness, he was reminded of all the times that he had piloted the Gummi Ship through and out.

Kairi had never seen such a wonder before, for her the only way she had traveled through the worlds was through the paths of darkness that members of Organization XIII would open. She walked over to join Sora, who still laid his eyes on the space around them.

"You've probably seen this a hundred times, haven't you?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah." Sora replied, a whimsical smile on his face. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Sora" Kairi started, looking at Sora. "It is."

Sora and Kairi had been separated for a year, because after Sora defeated Xehanort's Heartless near the door to the realm of darkness, the worlds that had been destroyed by the Heartless began to reform, but Sora needed to stay behind in order to search for Riku and the King.

Shortly after closing the door to darkness, Sora, Donald and Goofy found themselves walking down a long, meandering path when they discovered Pluto, the King's dog with a letter in his mouth. The trio raced after Pluto, hoping that he would lead them to the King and Riku.

However, before Sora and the others could catch up with Pluto, a mysterious cloaked figure appeared before Sora and left him with a cryptic message: "Ahead lies something you need, but to claim it, you must lose something very dear." The trio then followed the path that the man had made to Castle Oblivion.

As Sora, Donald and Goofy climbed the castle floors, they discovering that the more they ascended, the more memories they lost, but yet one lost memory came back to Sora, of a girl named Naminé, a friend he had forgotten about, however Naminé was a young witch being forced by Organization XIII to manipulate Sora's memories, Naminé then began to replace Sora's memories of Kairi with herself. Not just Sora's memories of Kairi were being erased, but Kairi's memories of Sora as well.

Regretful of her actions, Naminé vowed to help Sora regain his memories, though he would lose his memories of what transpired in Castle Oblivion. Sora assured her that, while he would forget her, she would always remain in his heart, never lost. Before Sora went to sleep, he at long last remembered Kairi.

Meanwhile, while Kairi had forgotten Sora's name, she could still remember him, albeit barely, while all of Sora's other friends had forgotten him entirely. But eventually all memories of Sora returned to all his friends.

When Kairi remembered Sora, she longed to be with him more and more every day, this eventually lead to her being kidnapped by an Organization member named Axel and while she managed to escape, another Organization member named Saïx caught her soon after.

It was there that Sora and Kairi were finally reunited, and Kairi promised Sora that she would be with him every day and Sora knew that no matter what happens, Kairi was going to be sure she withheld that promise.

O-O-O

One of those companions that Sora had met throught his journeys was a man named Cloud Strife. Cloud was an enigma to many, as he rarely ever let anyone know what he was thinking.

Cloud was once a "SOLDIER" for the Radiant Garden, his homeworld. For reasons known only to him, he sought the legendary SOLIDER known as Sephiroth, whom Cloud refers to as his "darkness".

After his world was taken over by Maleficent and the Heartless, Cloud travelled many worlds, trying to find Sephiroth and settle things once and for all with him. His search brought him to Olympus Colliseum, where the Lord of the Underworld, Hades, made Cloud an offer; if Cloud was to fight and kill Hercules in the Coliseum, Hades would help Cloud find Sephiroth.

It was during this time that Cloud met Sora, Donald and Goofy for the first time. He was ordered by Hades to defeat Sora, but as the battle progressed, Hades grew frustrated and Cloud was knocked out by a demon named Cerberus.

Cloud was saved by the efforts of Hercules and Sora, and once again set out to find Sephiroth. Shortly after, Cloud found Sephiroth in the Coliseum.

"_Finally, we meet." _declared Cloud, his sword at the ready.

"_I was searching for you too." _replied Sephiroth.

"_As long as you continue to exist, I cannot awaken from my nightmare." _said Cloud. _"You are my darkness."_

"_Then turn towards that darkness. Eternally refuse the light, to the nightmare of no awakening." _Sephiroth declared.

Cloud responded by raising his sword into battle position. Sephiroth drew his sword, the Masamune, a sword that was, by far, the longest sword known to history. Both charged up their energy, and with that, they both charged at each other. Cloud and Sephiroth clashed swords many times, eventually taking to the air, both leapt away from each other, and then came at the other again.

Cloud tried to bring his sword down upon Sephiroth, but the villian managed to leap up into the air, avoiding Cloud's attack. As Sephiroth smiled at him, Cloud quickly leapt to follow him. This time, as they clashed swords, a flash of light appeared and both Cloud and Sephiroth were transported to different worlds.

This would not be the last time they would meet….

Sephiroth was his darkness, that much Cloud knew for sure. But while Cloud himself had been tainted with darkness, his heart had not been lost. For there was light, that came in the form of two young women:

The first was Aerith Gainsborough, one of the members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. Aerith had encountered Cloud before the Heartless took over their world and she was known (and still is) to be openly flirtious with him. She was a kind young woman with an unbreakable will. While she was no fighter, she made her contributions to battle situations by healing her friends, should they become injured or tired. This would often prove to be a very useful skill.

The other was Tifa Lockheart, Tifa had encountered Cloud at some point in time and knew of his search for Sephiroth and desired to help him get rid of his inner darkness. She tried to give Cloud her light, but was never able to fully complete the process. Though appearing to be an ordinary human, Tifa actually possesses superhuman strength. (Much to the surprise of others.)

Sephiroth was his darkness, no mistake there. But which one was Cloud's light? Aerith… or Tifa? Cloud would find out that answer soon.

O-O-O

The Gummi Ship had finally arrived at its destination, Disney Castle. A world covered in beauty, it was Donald and Goofy's homeworld, and was ruled by King Mickey Mouse and Queen Minnie Mouse.

The Gummi Ship parked in the hanger, as soon as Sora and the others stepped out of the Gummi Ship, they were met by none other than Chip and Dale, the Gummi Ship Launch Crew, often giving Sora and crew, the instructions of where to go next.

"Sora!" Chip said, who was only distunguishable from Dale, but the shape of his teeth, jumped wildly up and down. "The King needs to see you right away!"

"Yeah, I got that part." said Sora. "Where is he?"

"He should be waiting for us outside." said Donald, looking up at Sora.

"C'mon! Let's go meet him!" Goofy said.

Riku and Kairi were both standing in awe at the sight of the sheer hanger alone, they had never seen anything like it before.

Sora had, however, he had previously travelled here in answer to the Queen's wish for help when Maleficent had her henchmen Pete travel back through time to take out the Cornerstone of Light, which protected the world from darkness. The Queen used her power to summon Sora, Donald and Goofy to the castle.

Sora, Donald and Goofy had to travel through a door to the past created by the wizard, Merlin, in order to save the castle. They were successful in stopping Pete and Disney Castle was safe once more.

Sora and company stepped out into the vast scenery of Disney Castle, it amazed Sora every time he saw it. No grass was greener and no sky was bluer. Riku and Kairi were both mesmerized by the sight before them. Sora chuckled upon seeing Kairi and Riku's stunned faces. It was no different than his own initial reaction.

"This place is beautiful, isn't it?" Sora asked.

"Yes,' Kairi said, nodding. "It is."

"Yeah, even I have to admit that I'm… stunned." added Riku.

As Donald and Goofy have already left to find the King and tell him that Sora had arrived, Kairi approached Sora, a worried look on her face.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering, how much longer do you think you'll have the Keyblade?" Kairi asked.

Startled by the question, Sora was taken aback. "What brought that up all of a sudden?"

"Oh, it's just that I wonder if we'll never have a chance to relax and…" Kairi stopped herself, before she could say the next part. "Never mind, it was just something I had been meaning to ask for a while."

Sora knew what she was talking about. Now that she mentioned it, he began to think about it himself. As long as the Keyblade was with him, it meant he would have to keep fighting, he even said so himself. But that meant that he could never tell her…

Before Sora could continue his thoughts, Donald and Goofy both returned. Both pressed their feet together as Donald prepared to speak.

The duck cleared his throat before his spoke. "Presenting the Disney royal family, King Mickey and Queen Minnie!"

Both Donald and Goofy turned around and faced other and then walked backwards two steps and bowed as the King and Queen approached. Sora, Riku and Kairi had all meet the King before, though short in size, he was a kind and wise ruler, and was a very powerful fighter. Like Sora, Mickey also carried a Keyblade, but while Sora's was silver in color, Mickey's was coveted in gold.

While Sora's keyblade came from the realm of light, Mickey obtained his in the realm of darkness in which he and Sora combined their keyblades to close the door to darkness.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi all respectively bowed as the King and Queen approached them. "Sora, Riku, Kairi." The King said, nodding at all of them. "I'm glad that you came."

"Your Majesty," said Sora, rising from his bow. "It's good to see you again."

The King nodded as he turned to the Queen. "Sora, I believe you know my wife, Minnie." said the King, as he brought the Queen forward. "Minnie, this is Sora's friends that I told you about."

"Oh?" The Queen said, turning to her husband. "These two are Riku and Kairi?"

"Yup." said the King. "That's them."

The Queen approached Riku, who seemed a little unsure and nervous. "You must be Riku, you're a fine young man from what Mickey has told me."

Riku smirked slightly. "Yeah, he and I know each other pretty well." Indeed, Riku owed the King his life, for while Sora ascended Castle Oblivion's top floors, Riku had managed to escape the realm of darkness and emerged in the basement floors of Castle Oblivion, as Riku had been possessed before by Xehanort's Heartless, the villain tried to take control of Riku again several times throughout his journey, but thanks to the timely interference of the King, Riku was spared from a second possession many times.

The Queen then approached Kairi, who bowed once again. "You must be Kairi, you're one of the 7 Princesses of Heart, I hear?"

"Yeah, that's what I've been told." said Kairi.

"Oh, anyway, Your Majesty?" Sora said, addressing the King. "What did you want to tell us exactly?"

"Oh, yes." said the King. "But first, there's somebody here who you've gotta see."

"Who?"

"You'll see."

So the King led the others to the Castle Library; which was located down the hall from the King's throne.

"All right." Said the King, as Donald and Goofy both ran ahead to open the doors for him, gratuitously bowing to allow the King to go through first. Although the King had told his two most loyal subjects that there was no need for it many times, both Donald and Goofy had too much respect for their King to refrain. "Here he is. Sora, I believe that you know Cloud Strife, don't you?"

"Cloud?" exclaimed a surprised Sora.

Cloud Strife? Here in Disney Castle? Of all the palaces, this would be the _last _place for Sora to expect Cloud. The last Sora saw of Cloud, he had been engaged with Sephiroth in an epic duel to the death with no clear winner in sight. But as the two leapt into the air, they both disappeared in a giant flash of light.

But yet there he was, standing with his arms crossed, bending his back onto the shelf. He was instantly recognizable by his pointy, spiked blonde hair. Neither Riku nor Kairi had met Cloud before, so they remained silent, waiting to be introduced.

"Cloud?" Sora said, as he approached the warrior. "What are you doing here?"

Across from Sora, Pluto was sleeping on his bed, Cloud's eyes opened and looked down at Sora. "You're here at last, huh?"

"What do you mean "At last?"" Sora asked, confused.

"The King can tell you that." Cloud said, standing up straight.

"Okay… but how did you get here?"

"You remember that flash of light when Sephiroth and I fought?" Cloud explained.

"Yeah?"

"Somehow I ended up here."

"Oh, okay…" Sora said. "What happened to Sephiroth?"

"He's causing trouble at the Radiant Garden." The King answered for Cloud.

"What?" Sora exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Cloud said, silently. "He is."

"But what happened to Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and all the others?" Sora asked, talking very fast.

"Calm down, Sora." The King urged. "I'll explain it all to you in a second."

Sora let out a sigh. "All right, all right, I'm calm."

The King walked past Sora, so he could face the whole crowd, he then began to tell the tale. "Cloud told me all about his feud with Sephiroth. Although Cloud ended up here at the Castle, Sephiroth must've landed in another location in Radiant Garden."

Sora could feel a sense of dread; he feared the next part of the story, but nonetheless, kept his ears perked.

"Sometime after our battle with Xemnas, Maleficent and Pete must've either escaped their battle with the Nobodies or they've taken the Castle That Never Was as their own."

Organization XIII used the Castle That Never Was as a base of operations, he did not know what became of it after he and Riku defeated Xemnas once and for all, but he was sure that he'd find out soon enough.

"To make matters worse, Sephiroth has somehow gained the ability to control the Heartless."

"What!" Sora cried out. "Did Maleficent give him that ability?"

"Yes." said the King, gloomily. "I'm sure of it."

"Are they working together?"

"I don't know. Maleficent hasn't been seen at the Radiant Garden, though I can't say for sure what's going on."

"Do you have any idea where Maleficent is?" Riku asked, suddenly.

"We can't be too sure yet." The King said. "But we're looking into it."

Riku nodded slightly, a look of anger in his eyes. It was not that Maleficent's location was unknown that was making Riku angry, it was that Maleficent had previously used Riku to kidnap the Princesses of Heart, as well as turning him against Sora, all this eventually led to Xehanhart's Heartless possessing his body.

"How'd you guys find out about the Radiant Garden?" Kairi asked.

"Cid managed to get a message through, thanks to Merlin. Unfortunately due to Sephiroth's immense darkness, Merlin's magic is weakening." Cloud explained.

Merlin was a sorcerer who was assisting Leon and the others as they struggled to rebuild their old home. He often feuded with Cid, who was the committee's technology expert, as they would always get into arguments over whether magic or technology was the best solution to a problem.

"There's no time to waste." said Cloud. "We need to go now."

Sora nodded. He had met Sephiroth before, the first was outside the Hollow Bastion Castle where he stated that he was looking for Cloud, as Cloud was looking for him. "That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out." Sora recalled him saying, referencing to Cloud.

The second was at the Dark Depths of the Radiant Garden, where he challenged Sora to a duel. Sora remembered well:

"_What is Cloud doing?" _asked Sephiroth, not turning to face the trio.

"_Beats me." _Sora answered.

"_Hmph." _replied Sephiroth. _"By the way, you three, who are you?"_ Sephiroth suddenly turned to face the trio, Sora, Donald and Goofy immediately jumped back, Sora drawing his Keyblade as he did.

"_I'm not sure we should tell ya!"_ said Goofy.

Sephiroth ignored Goofy and stared at Sora's Keyblade. _"Well, that's an interesting sword you're carrying."_

"_It's the Keyblade!"_ yelled Donald.

"_I see. So that's a Keyblade? And I suppose you must be its chosen wielder?" _

"_So what if I am?" _Sora replied.

Sephiroth prepared to attack. _"I wonder if it won't change its mind… once I defeat you!"_

Sephiroth then proceeded to attack Sora, who defended himself from Sephiroth's amazingly powerful attacks. Eventually, Sora was able to fend off Sephiroth's attacks.

"_How did ya like that!" _Sora yelled, triumphantly.

Despite the battle, Sephiroth did not seem phased at all, he merely brushed himself off and turned away again. _"You're very skilled. But it seems that only Cloud can eliminate me. Go then. Tell him that Sephiroth is looking to settle things."_

Sora snapped out of his flashback, when Riku started speaking to him. "Sora? You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I must've phased out." Sora said. "What's up?"

"Well, I've decided that I'm gonna go look for Maleficent."

"Huh?"

"Somebody has to look for her."

"But Riku…" Sora started.

"Don't argue with me, my mind's made up." Riku declared.

Sora sighed reluctantly; he knew he couldn't stop Riku. It was as the King once said to him at the World That Never Was. Riku was doing what his heart commanded.

"Your Majesty?" asked Riku. "May I borrow a Gummi Ship to use?"

"Sure. Chip and Dale should be able to lend you one."

"Thanks." Riku then turned towards Sora, who was reluctant to part from Riku again, after only just reuniting with him. "Hey, cheer up, Sora." Riku placed both of his hands on Sora's shoulders. "I'll be back before ya know it!"

"Yeah, I know." Sora said, smiling weakly.

Riku flashed Sora a smile and then began to make his way out of the castle.

"Good luck." Kairi spoke, as Riku passed her.

"Thanks." Riku said, as he walked out the doors. "I'll need it."

As Sora watched Riku go, he felt worried and reassured at the same time.

"We need to go." Cloud said. "Your Majesty, is the ship ready?"

"Yeah, it's ready to go at any time." replied the King, as he turned to Donald and Goofy. "Donald, Goofy, go with Sora and Cloud."

"Yes, sir, Your Majesty!" said Donald.

"It would be our pleasure." added Goofy.

"But what about you, Your Majesty?" asked Kairi.

"I've got something to take care of first, but I'll meet up with you as soon as I can."

"What is it that you have to do?" asked Sora.

"I'll fill you in later." replied the King.

"But-"

"Trust me." The King then turned to his Queen and held both of her hands. "I'll be back soon, Minnie, I promise."

"I understand, Mickey." The Queen replied. "Just be careful out there."

With that, the King once again departed from his castle.

"All right, Donald, Goofy, let's go." Sora commanded.

"Hold on. Aren't you forgetting something?" Kairi spoke.

"Huh? Oh no… Kairi, you can't mean…"

"Oh yes, I mean it. I'm going with you too, Sora."

"But Kairi, this guy is…"

"I don't care."

"Sora's right." said Cloud, his back turned, the group all turned to face him. "Sephiroth's power is beyond belief, you're better off staying here."

Kairi started to protest, but upon gazing at Cloud, and then at Sora, she quickly realized that perhaps it was best that she sit this one out. "Stay here with the Queen." Sora said.

"Okay, but on one condition." said Kairi, a grin on her face.

Sora sighed. "What is it?"

"You're coming right back after this to pick me up? Understand?"

"Um, oh, right. Yeah, sure." Sora said, conceding.

With that, Kairi's grin disappeared and a look of sadness appeared on her face. She then reached into her pocket. "Here." Kairi said, taking something out. "Take this with you."

Sora shouldn't have been surprised to see Kairi hand him her lucky charm, just like she did a year ago, Sora had only just returned it. "It helped you before, didn't it?"

"Yeah." Sora said, pocketing it. "Thanks. I'll be back soon, I promise."

Just as Sora began to turn away, Kairi quickly thrust her arms around him. Surprised, Sora slowly reached in to hug back. Neither wished the hug would end, but slowly Sora broke off and with a small smile, he turned away.

O-O-O

_(Author's Note: This part takes place before the above events)_

Once he had been revered as a hero, but he has a secret, he is the embodiment of Cloud's darkness. His name is Sephiroth, for years he had disappeared, only to now have returned, he is seeking the one called Cloud Strife, his desire is to wipe out the last of the light that remains in Cloud's heart. He had fought Cloud many times before, but any time Cloud apparently finished him off, Sephiroth would always come back through the darkness in Cloud's heart.

With this in mind, Sephiroth knew that he would eventually win and Cloud's heart would be swallowed forever by the darkness. He looked at the Hollow Bastion castle that was once ruled by Ansem the Wise from afar.

"Well now, are you the one they call Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth turned to face this voice and no sooner than he did, did he see a woman dressed in a black robe, with a humanoid dog by her side.

"Yes, I am. And I know you as well, Maleficent." replied Sephiroth.

"I'm sure you do." said Maleficent.

"Tell me, what do you want?" said Sephiroth.

"Why, we don't want anything from you, Sephiroth. We only want to give you a gift to take down your rival once and for all."

"And that would be?"

"The ability to control the Heartless!" declared Maleficent. "With the Heartless by your side, you could take over this world and shape it in your own vision!"

Sephiroth smiled. "Hmm, what do I need from the Heartless? What's in this for you?"

"Oh, I want nothing in return." replied Maleficent. "I only want to assist in getting you what you want!"

Sephiroth half laughed. "I'm sure."

"Regardless of what you believe, do you accept?"

"I don't see anything for me to lose, why not?"

"You made a wise choice, Sephiroth." said Maleficent, she outstretch her arms and slowly dark energy began to pour into Sephiroth, but he did not fear it, for he _was _darkness.

After the "gift" was complete, Maleficent apparently had one more gift for Sephiroth. "Pete, the wristbands."

"Oh, yes, right." said Pete, pulling out two wristbands and handing them to Maleficent.

Maleficent approached Sephiroth and handed the two wristbands to him. "They are no ordinary wristbands, you see, these will allow you to take control of that fool, Leon and another of his companions, it might prove useful."

Sephiroth gazed at the two wristbands before pocketing them. "Very well. But I doubt you made these, where did you get them?"

"Is that really so important?" asked Maleficent.

"No, it doesn't, I suppose. Now leave me." said Sephiroth.

"As you wish." said Maleficent, an evil smile on her face.

As Maleficent and Pete both turned to leave, Sephiroth started to chuckle.

"I know how you operate." said Sephiroth. "You were planning on turning me into a Heartless, weren't you?"

Surprised, Maleficent prepared to turn around and brace herself for an attack.

"But I need not worry about losing my heart to the darkness… for I AM darkness." roared Sephiroth.

"Hmph. Of course." said Maleficent.

"But I thank you for the gift, if you leave now, I will spare your lives. Now go, before I change my mind."

Pete looked frightened at Sephiroth's words and instantly opened a portal of darkness. "I don't know about you, sister, but I'M getting outta here!"

"Pathetic." mused Maleficent. But nonetheless, she followed Pete through the portal, leaving Sephiroth to himself.

Sephiroth turned and gazed at Ansem's old castle, a devilish smile on his face…

O-O-O

Sora and the others are arrived at the Radiant Garden. Previously, its only name was believed to be Hollow Bastion, but when the security program named Tron, who was inside a digitized computer world created by Ansem the Wise revealed the true name of the town with help from Sora and his friends, the world had since been known as the Radiant Castle, with its only castle known as Hollow Bastion.

Ansem the Wise ruled over the Radiant Garden with wise and kind rule, it was he that began to study the heart's true essence in an attempt to bolster defenses against the darkness threatening his world. He researched the darkness and its effect on the heart using his apprentice, Xehanort who volunteered to be his test subject, so he could prevent disaster. Eventually, Ansem stopped the experiments, realizing he should not meddle with human hearts. What Ansem did not know was that his apprentices were secretly bringing in more innocent people to test on. When he discovered this, he immediately told them to cease their experiments.

As for Xehanort, nobody knows where he came from and who he truly was, but he was found in the Radiant Garden, near death and without memory. Ansem nursed him back to health, and took him on as one of his apprentices. Through Xehanort's independent study of the darkness led him to the discovery of the creatures that he named the "Heartless". It was during this that Xehanort secretly took on the name "Ansem" and used it as he continued the report that the real Ansem wrote himself.

Xehanort's studies led him and found his way to the deepest part of the Radiant Garden, where he opened a mysterious door that he believed was the heart of the world. Nobody knows how he opened the door, and it's unknown if anyone ever will. After he opened the door, there was a meteor shower and Xehanort believed that he had shattered the walls between the worlds.

Ansem was known to be good friends with King Mickey, who had visited the Radiant Garden to converse with Ansem about the Keyblade and its mysterious power. It was during these meetings that Xehanort believed that he had made interworld travel possible. (Though he also learned of the Keyblade.) At King Mickey's suggestion, Ansem reviewed the data at the laboratory he had constructed in his basement.

It was there that Ansem had discovered the "Ansem Reports" though he himself had only written the first one. He quickly realized the truth; Xehanort had stolen his name and taken it for himself.

In pursuit of darkness, Xehanort led the Heartless on a rampage through the Radiant Garden, and sought to become one with the darkness.

Filled with shame and guilt at the horror that he had unleashed, Ansem banished himself to the realm of nothingness where he hid until he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Discarding the stolen name of "Ansem", he became obsessed with thoughts of revenge and wore a concealing red robe with bandages covering most of his face. As he himself wrote in his secret reports following his discovery of his students' betrayal.

"If the light of hope has been extinguished, I shall henceforth walk with darkness as a friend. Here, in the realm of nothingness to which I have been relegated. Darkness in the midst of nothing. Darkness in Zero. Thus, I shall be known as DiZ. Discarding the stolen name "Ansem"... And going in search of revenge."

"DiZ" then took refuge in an abandoned mansion in Twilight Town, while the Radiant Garden lost its identity and only became known as "Hollow Bastion."

Arriving at the Marketplace in the Radiant Garden, Sora and the others immediately began to search for any sign of Sephiroth, the Heartless, or their friends. Nothing seemed to be wrong…

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! Cloud!"

Sora and the others looked over to the source of the voice.

"It's Cid!" yelled Goofy.

Indeed it was, in the gang's first adventure, Cid Highwind was helpful to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, in giving them the necessary upgrades to their Gummi Ships. In their second adventure, Cid was useful in coming up with a computer program that allowed them to destory a program that was created Xehanort; which sabotaged the Radiant Garden's defense systems inside the Space Paranoids world.

"About time you four got here!" Cid shouted, stopping to pant.

"What's going on?" asked Donald.

"Sephiroth, he's already managed to conquer most of the town." said Cid. "Except for here, Merlin's managed to keep a barrier up that's protecting us from the Heartless and Sephiroth's darkness."

"Where is Sephiroth now?" asked Cloud.

"He's at the Hollow Bastion Castle." explained Cid. "He's made that his little base of operations."

"What about the others?" asked Sora.

"Well, those three "fairies" or whatever the hell they are, are still here. As for the others… Well, I'll explain everything in a second."

Cid then signaled the group to follow him to the center of the marketplace. He looked depressed and in a moment, Sora and the others saw why…

Everything outside of the Market Place was in ruins, Sephiroth's Heartless had nearly destroyed everything, everything that the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee had worked for was gone… just like that. Nothing was left to show… except for a few burnt houses and ashes of smoke that polluted the sky.

Sora's lips formed a word, but no sound came out. Donald let out a sad sigh while Goofy hanged his head in silence. Cloud just stared at the castle from a distance. It was though Sephiroth was calling to him, waiting for him. And Cloud knew that he would have to be the one to stop him.

"Sephiroth, you'll pay for this… I swear it."

But the heroes had no time to mourn on the tragedy that they had just seen before their very eyes. For Merlin, the Wizard quickly called them over in order to fill them in with all the details. There was much more going on than they knew.

"Merlin! Just what exactly happened here?" shouted Sora.

"Yeah! How could Sephiroth destroy the entire town just like that?" added Donald.

"Please calm down." said the old wizard. "I will explain everything to you in a moment."

"No, old man." said Cid, walking over to Merlin. "You weren't there, I'll explain it to them."

"Hmph. Very well then, Cid, you tell them the story."

O-O-O

"_It goes like this, Yuffie and I were doing our daily Heartless check, same old, same old. Leon and Aerith were discussing new ideas for restoring the town, just then I got a reading."_

"What is it, Cid?" asked Yuffie Kisaragi. Yuffie was as she put it: "A great ninja", Yuffie was known for always being optimistic around any sort of situation, and was known to tease her friends on various occassions.

"Well, looks like we've got another batch of Heartless showing up." Cid said, pointing out three separate marks on the computer map. "Shouldn't be too har- whoa!" Suddenly, three more marks appeared on the map on Cid's computer, which he used to keep an eye on the town's defense grid and for any Heartless attacks.

"Cid?" asked Leon, who immediately got up from his chair, upon hearing Cid's surprised yell. "What's wrong?"

Leon's true name was Squall Leonhart. After his world was consumed by the darkness, Squall felt ashamed because he was unable to protect those he cared about from the Heartless, thus he took the name "Leon". Though Yuffie would occassionally refer to him by his true name, Leon would always tell her to not address him by that name. He could be rather confrontational and rude at times, but deep down in his heart, Leon couldn't hide that he was a good-natured man, who cared deeply for his friends.

"There's Heartless readings popping up all over the damn place!… and more coming."

"What?" Leon yelled, surprised. "You mean just as much as…"

"Yeah, looks like it."

Previously, Leon and the others found themselves under attack from thousands of Heartless when Maleficent, who had previously ruled over their world, attacked it, in order to reclaim it. Thanks to the help of Cloud, Sora, Tifa, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey, they were able to fight the Heartless off once again.

"Leon?" asked Aerith, turning to him, a worried expression on her face. "What do we do now?"

"Well…" Leon said, placing his hand on his forehead. "Our only option is to fight here. Yuffie, Aerith, c'mon! Cid, let Merlin know what's up when he gets back."

Aerith and Yuffie gave an understanding nod.

"All right. Let's go." commanded Leon.

But just before the three could make their way out the door, the door to Merlin's house was suddenly slashed open. As the two pieces came flying their way, Leon, thinking quickly, grabbed his Gunblade (which literally was a sword shaped in the form of a gun) and cut the pieces into halves themselves, preventing any of the group from being injured.

"Have any of you seen Cloud?"

Leon gazed up, to see a man walking through the door, at his side, was quite possibly the longest sword Leon had ever seen. When he saw the man's face, he instantly recognized him: "You're…. Sephiroth!"

He was indeed, Leon had heard of Sephiroth as the legendary hero who fought many battles for Ansem the Wise, but yet Cloud had said that Sephiroth was the embodiment of his darkness… Leon was confused, but he knew that he didn't have time for any sort of questionaire.

"I suppose not." Sephiroth said, looking around the house, behind him were at least a dozen Heartless, all waiting for orders to attack. "Where might I find him?"

"Beats me. He hasn't been seen since he fought you." Leon answered.

"What a shame… but maybe I can convince him to return?" Sephiroth raised his sword and pointed it at Leon, who prepared himself for an attack.

Even the usually cheerful Yuffie was stunned at the sight of Sephiroth. Aerith was too shocked to speak, when she saw Sephiroth stare over at her, a devilish smile on his face, a shiver ran down Aerith's spine.

"Yuffie…" Leon whispered. "Take Aerith and Cid and go!"

"What! But…. Leon, what about you?"

"I'll distract him."

"You're crazy!"

"Yeah, but that's not gonna stop me. Go, NOW!" Leon ordered angrily.

Yuffie hesitated slightly before turning to Aerith and Cid. "C'mon, we gotta go!"

"But…" started Aerith.

"His heart's made up, we can't stop him." said Yuffie, hanging her head. Sephiroth and the Heartless were blocking the front door, but fortunately there was a secret exit installed in the back of Merlin's house, in the event of emergencies.

Sephiroth took a step towards Leon, his sword ready to cut him down. Leon had never faced an opponent like Sephiroth before, and if what was said about him was true, he was going to have a helluva fight on his hands.

On the shelf where the "100 Acre Wood" book lie, Yuffie quickly pushed the shelf off to the side, while Aerith quickly grabbed the book, holding onto it as though it were her life.

Cid pressed a hidden button on the back wall, which caused the lower half of the wall to slide open like a gaping mouth.

Leon tightened his grip on his sword, sweat was already beginning to stream down his forehead, but nevertheless, his feet stead steady. "Get out of here!"

Leon let out a yell of adrenline as he charged at Sephiroth, with a bit of reluctance and urgency Yuffie led Cid and Aerith through the secret passageway, as they continued to hear the yells of a man facing certain death…

O-O-O

"So… what happened to Leon?" Sora asked, fearful.

"Well, I don't know what happened during the fight, but it's safe to say that Leon lost."

"What about Aerith? Where is she?" asked Cloud.

"And Yuffie." said Goofy.

"After we made it outside, we tried to get to the Hollow Bastion castle, but we were quickly cut off by the Heartless, Yuffie managed to fight them off, but it was too late… Sephiroth arrived and someone else too..."

O-O-O

They had only managed to make their way to the Postern, before they were discovered by the Heartless, Yuffie had managed to fight off the first wave with her incredible ninja skills. But accompanying the second wave was none other than Sephiroth… it was obvious then that Leon had lost.

"No… Leon." Yuffie said, under the assumption that her friend had been killed. "You… you… monster!"

In anger, Yuffie ran at Sephiroth, Aerith reached out her hand to stop her, but it was too late. Yuffie attempted to strike Sephiroth, but the villain simply tilted his body to avoid her punches and with the backside of his hand, knocked Yuffie to the ground.

The young girl landed on her back where several Heartless leapt into the air to pin her to the ground, but with quick thinking, Yuffie rolled backwards and upon regaining her balance, struck the Heartless with a powerful sweep that instantly destroyed them.

"Oh, c'mon, Sephiroth, if all you've got is Heartless then you're in big- AAAHHHH!" Suddenly a huge ball of fire struck Yuffie in the side and knocked her into the large pillar to the right.

"YUFFIE!" Aerith cried out, concerned that her friend was seriously hurt or worse even. Yuffie's motionless body slumped to the ground, unconscious.

This blast did not come from Sephiroth, for surely they would've seen him fire it, it came to the right and as Aerith looked to see who was able to strike Yuffie so accurately, she was stunned, it couldn't be, it just _couldn't _be,

But there he was, standing just a few feet from Sephiroth was Leon, his eyes were filled with hatred.

And he was smiling.


End file.
